


Don't let them grind you down.

by Annalea



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 24hr News Cycle, Canon Compliant, Caring Dean Winchester, Caring Sam Winchester, Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Cuddles, Current Events, Dean and Sam take care of Cas, Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down, Gen, M/M, Obsessive News Watching, Sad Castiel (Supernatural), Solidarity, Supportive Dean Winchester, TV News, You are not alone, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 16:29:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18854773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annalea/pseuds/Annalea
Summary: It had been two days since Cas had started watching the news obsessively. Two days where he had been online checking and rechecking what was happening, the TV a constant drone in the background. Cas had a habit now of throwing himself into collecting information for a hunt, as much as possible, but this… well this was getting out of hand.Dean steps in and makes Cas stop watching the horrible news and actually rest, with cuddles and reassurance.





	Don't let them grind you down.

It had been two days since Cas had started watching the news obsessively. Two days where he had been online checking and rechecking what was happening, the TV a constant drone in the background. Dean and Sam were initially not too concerned, Cas had a habit now of throwing himself into collecting information for a hunt, as much as possible, but this… well this was getting out of hand. This morning when Dean shuffled out of his room heading towards the kitchen, passing the TV room the drone of the TV was already on and when he stuck his head around the door, it looked like Cas had been up all night.

 

“Cas, buddy? Are you OK?” he calls.

 

“I’m fine Dean” comes the wan answer, “They say there will be another update soon… I’ll let you know what they say.” Cas sounds exhausted and Dean frowns a little more at the sound of his voice. Pushing the door open he steps into the room to see detritus scattered around the TV and Cas curled up in a lopsided blanket, eyes fixed on the screen, laptop balanced on the sofa arm, heavy dark circles under his eyes.

 

“I’m gonna make some coffee, do you want to come and grab some breakfast?” He asks, with a wheedling tone.

 

“No, no, I’m fine, I may grab some coffee later… Thanks though. I need to keep an eye on this..” his voice trails off as he keeps his gaze fixed on the screen.

 

Later, Dean and Sam are sat in the kitchen together over breakfast. Cas had appeared briefly, still in yesterday’s clothes, grabbed coffee and gone back to the TV, muttering angrily to himself.

 

“I’m getting worried Sammy, I know he worries about things and always feels like he has to help, but this… this isn’t healthy.”

 

“I agree with you, but I get where he is coming from. What’s happening.. it’s awful, it’s just like some horrible dystopia. Every time I hear something new I keep thinking it must be something we could do something about, demon possession, witches, heck perhaps even a Djjin, but it’s not, it’s just… people. People doing horrible things. And that’s not in our wheelhouse.”

 

“I know, I know that. But Cas doesn’t see things that way. We need to get him out of that room man, this is getting too much.”

 

Sammy nods his head, brushing his long hair back out of his eyes in frustration.

 

Over the course of the day they both try and tempt Cas away from the 24 hour news cycle, but both end up getting sucked in for short periods of time too. Sam has to tear himself away and run, just run until he is gasping for breath. Dean buries himself in car repairs, fixing the engine of the last vintage car in the garage that didn’t work, knowing they can sell it for a profit later and ignoring the fact he has retreated to focusing on the only thing he actually _can_ fix.

 

Cas stays in front of the TV, curled up tightly with an increasing look of despair on his face.

 

The day passes into the evening. Sam brings Cas some dinner when he doesn’t come in and just shakes his head sadly at Dean when he returns.

 

They both go their own ways, Dean changing into loose sweatpants and a t-shirt for the night and settling in his room with his computer, but as much as he tries to distract himself he keeps drifting back to the news as well. Until eventually, draining his beer, he slaps the laptop shut and decides to try and sleep.

 

Padding back to the kitchen to drop off his bottle he sees Sam’s door is closed, but there is still a flickering light coming from the TV room.

 

 _“That’s it,”_ he decides, _“enough is enough.”_ And he walks fully into the room, pacing round in front of the TV.

 

“Cas.” he says, softly, but firmly, “it’s time for bed. You need to sleep.”

 

“OK Dean” Cas murmurs, his voice tense and worn. “In a minute.”

 

“No, not a minute, now.” Dean walks over and turns off the TV, with the light from the hall now providing the only illumination.

 

“No! Dean! I was watching that!” Cas jerks upright, hand reaching out towards the TV as the laptop slides off his lap and thuds onto the thick carpet.

 

Dean walks over to him and crouches down, his green eyes gentle on Cas’ frantic face.

 

“I know. I know you were Cas, but you need to stop, OK? It’s time to stop.”

 

“I can’t stop!” There is a hitch in Cas’ gravel deep voice, a pain that is bubbling just under the surface. “I tried to… last night, but every time I closed my eyes I kept thinking and thinking and I… I need to know when it ends, I need to know what I can do. People can’t _do_ this to each other! There must be another reason, something else is making them and if I keep watching I’ll see it and then we can go and fix it!” Cas is gesticulating wildly now, his eyes over bright with exhaustion and his expression drawn.

 

“Hey, it’s Ok Cas, I mean.. It’s not, but I understand what you are saying. I do. Look…” Dean sighs and rubs his hand overs his eyes, “sometimes people are just shitty. Sometimes it’s not a monster, just people’s bigotry and fear and hatred. Me and Sam have been thinking the same thing since this started. But you need to sleep. You can’t keep doing this all day and all night.”

 

“But I have to…” Cas whispers. “Other people they _can’t_ stop, even if they want to. They have to live this all the time, so where do I get off deciding to stop? I have to help, I have to witness and find out how to help…” as he chokes to a stop he tucks his head and Dean spots a tear rolling down his cheek.

 

He leans in and gathers Cas up into a deep hug. Cas shudders in his arms, tears just leaking out of his eyes and then reaches round to hug him back. They stay that way for a moment and then Dean pulls back and scoops his arms under Cas’ legs and around his back, picking him up, blanket and all, whilst still holding him close.

 

“Come on” he huffs as he gathers Cas up against his chest.

 

Dean sidles out of the room, hip bumping the door closed and pads the short distance back to his room, bearing Cas along with him. When he gets to his room, he sets the dark haired man down on the bed, before reaching over and snagging another blanket. Then he reaches out and tucks Cas under his chin, wrapping the blankets around them snugly and holding him tight.

 

“You are right Cas.” Dean murmurs sadly into his hair, “We can choose to stop, and it’s not fair that we can choose that and others can’t. But if we are going to help, you need to rest. You can’t give to others if your cup is empty and right now you are hurting yourself. So stay here and rest. It’s OK to take care of yourself too – you have to.”

 

“I have to help.” Cas whispers, still gripping Dean tightly.

 

“And we will. You and me and Sammy we are all going to help. Tomorrow morning we will get together and make a plan for helping, heck even if all we can do is send a bit of money to them then that’s what we will do. We will stand with them. But we will do it together Cas, OK? Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

 

Dean reaches up with one hand and strokes Cas’ back soothingly.

 

“You hear me? You are not alone.”

 

Cas sighs into his shirt relaxing slightly at the words and, reassured, cuddled up in the nest of blankets, he and Dean drift off to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> With everything that has been going on recently I just needed to get this out of my system. I've been a bit obsessive myself and so hugs and reassurance that we are going to work together to help are all that are keeping me going some days - even with the knowledge that I am nowhere near in the worst place for this.
> 
> For any of you who are IN this shit-storm, I stand with you and support you, and know that I am doing what I can with my limited resources to help (if you have any suggestions for organizations that could do with some more support, please let me know in the comments).
> 
> Love and solidarity.


End file.
